A lucrative port of strategic importance in the development of international trade, Macao was under Portuguese administration from the mid-C16 (Portuguese were the first of the Europeans to settle here: Jorge Alvares in 1513, followed by Tome Pires in 1517) until 1999 when it was returned to Chinese sovereignty. With its historic streets, residential, religious and public Portuguese and Chinese buildings it “provides a unique testimony to the meeting of aesthetic, cultural, architectural and technological influences from East and West.” It’s also put it on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Featuring a grand stairway and remarkably intact facade (it’s suffered numerous fires), the Ruins of St Paul’s Cathedral is Macao’s most important landmark – the symbol of the city:
Originally, the church was attached to St Paul’s College, the first western university in the Far East. Built in 1580, fires destroyed all its internal structures leaving nothing but the facade.
Mount Fortress, built by the Jesuits from 1617 to 1626, was the city’s principal military defence structure and was crucial in successfully holding off the attempted Dutch invasion of Macao in 1622:
With no weapons facing mainland China, the fortress was only built for defence against attacks from the sea. In 1965 a weather observatory was installed at the site and the fortress was demilitarized in 1976.
Inside the fortress, the first floor of the museum made interesting reading, focusing on the convergence of the two cultures. Here’s a summary (not verified though, I’m afraid):
- Chinese script: one of most ancient scripts in the world (1600 BC), standardised by the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.
- Portuguese script: pictograms and ideograms from Sumerian civilisation (3100 BC) were advanced by the Egyptians who used symbols to represent the sound of individual words. The Phoenicians developed an alphabetic writing system which the Greeks took a stage further by using distinct symbols to represent separate consonants and vowels – these were to become the alphabetic script we use today.
- Chinese school of thought: Confucius (551 BC to 479 BC) plus Taoism, Mohism and Legalism contributed to the development of Chinese philosophy. Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism developed side by side.
- Portuguese school of thought: early Greek philosophers Thales (c624 bc – 547 bc) and Heraclitus (c540 bc – 470 bc) studied the nature of reality and suggested various theories about the universe. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle developed methods for reasoning and endeavored to pursue truth. In the Middle Ages, Christianity became dominant.
- Chinese empire of Qin: In 221 BC Qin established the first unified, multinational and centralised country. Basic state structure and a political system followed two thousand years later.
- Roman empire: I’m assuming you know about this bit already.
- Chinese religion: Taoism was the indigenous religion before Buddhism, Christianity and Islam gradually took root.
- Portuguese religion: Christianity dominant.
Other interesting facts collected during my visit include:
- Chinese tea – the two most popular are “five flowers” (sweet, cleans the bowels) and “24 tastes” (bitter, cures a cold); people would gather in tea shops and chat, exchange gossip and listen to the radio
- Traditional Chinese medicine is an important part of their culture – this is a shop I saw when wandering the streets later that day:
- Cigarette lighters killed Macao’s fire cracker industry
- Cooking combined traditions from different cultural origins (but unfortunately the museum didn’t actually say what they were)
- Chinese birth: celebrated one month after baby is born with a family gathering at which the parents distribute red eggs and receive presents in return
- In Chinese culture, birthdays are celebrated when the man (yang) reaches 60, 70, 80 and 90, and the women (yin) the ages 61, 71, 81 and 91.
Traditional Chinese wedding outfits:
- Portuguese weddings are like the standard Catholic wedding (religious ceremony, wedding reception and bridal gown); but in Macao the reception is a traditional “cha gordo” with both Chinese and Portuguese customs (again, it didn’t say what)
- WWII: Sheltered from the horrors of war, Macao became a haven flooded by waves of refugees. In 1941 population grew from 150,000 to 500,000
- During the Sino-Japanese War, Macao supported China
- Key Portuguese poets: Luis de Camoes (c1530-1580) and Camilo Pessanha (1867-1926) – apparently the latter had an interesting life marked by opium addiction and a prodigious memory
Then back on to the street to see the numerous buildings that made UNESCO interested in the “historic centre”.
Cathedral: built around 1622, originally constructed in taipa (a compound material consisting of clay and straw) that is compacted in a timber frame:
Sam Kai Vui Kun temple: built between 1723 and 1795, its name means “the streets’ meeting corner” as the temple was originally used as the meeting venue for business representatives from the three adjoining streets (the deity “Kuan Tai” is worshipped here).
And finally St Lawrence’s Church: built in the mid-C16, it underwent reconstruction in 1618, 1768, 1846, 1898 and 2006 (so which bits, if any, are “historic” I don’t know):
And, just for the record, we had loads of pictures taken of us. Mostly by Chinese. Normal service has resumed 😉 In fact, I asked Lucy why, and gently suggested that it was because we had big noses. She laughed shyly (but she was quite shy anyway) and explained that it was because we looked unusual. Read into this what you will 😉
Other things that were more Asian than Western: table bars and anti-queue jump barriers.
There was something else today that I was going to mention but I’ve forgotten. Blast. Knew I should have written it down. What was it? Ah yes, I remember now…
… I jumped off the 233m Macao Tower – the highest bungy in the world:
I did it my way: inquisitive, analytical, calm, camera shy (in fact, I totally forgot about the GoPro until I was almost at the bottom; if you ask, I might show you the video; or I might not 😉
Some random bungy facts:
- Cords are a thick bundle of thin elastic – the same as used when making pants (but probably more than three pairs)
- Four cord thicknesses – each used for a different weight range
- Each cord can be used for 1200 jumps – here they only use them 400 times
- As the bungies are used they stretch; the more they stretch, the more you bounce (obviously weight plays a part, too)
I wasn’t scared because I didn’t look down. But I realised afterwards that it also meant I wasn’t excited either. In my world, it didn’t beat Stealth* at Alton Towers, but I’m glad I did it – it was, in fact, a highlight of my trip even though I’d never felt the urge to jump off a high building before.
* One of the best company events I’ve ever been to was when a supplier hired out Alton Towers for the evening – “round and round on Stealth we go” 🙂